The Somerset herald. [volume] (Somerset, Pa.) 1870-1936, 1887-11-16

l,elnjess tied hand and foot, and then
taken in canoes over to another island
and traded for pigs. The purchasers then
finished them and had a cannihal issast
on their bodies.
Iquiefed the fears of the sailor WITH
me- bx affirming that the natives yet
hoped to see the brig come ashore, and
by holding us they knew they would
weaken the crew and render the event
more probable. Shortly after noon they
cave rs very liberal meal, and :rou'
wha; outside words could catch up
.,stl.ered that messengers he'd been sent
If t. bring the Villagers honie 20 attack
the brig. They calne before sunset, and
they had scarcely arrived when a couple
/ # guards came and conducted me to the
head man or chief He was short, stout
ugly looking fellow. and saw at a glance
that all the people seemed 70 fear him
He had been told, suppose that ! could
speak the dialect, and no sooner had J
come into his presence than ne shouted
At me
@So Won dare land on my island with
out fir-t seeking PERMISSION We shall
zee about that"
But we are sailors in distress | ne
piled.
Bah What Is your distress tome :
Am l responsible because you don't know
how to sail your ship safely9 Where does
your craft come from, and where Is she
bound to-
told him truly
What is your cargo
She is in ballast only
How many men are Jeff aboard"
@Seven, counting the cook.
Is j. he a negro2 P"
He is"
Well YOU needn't count him. We
will throw HIN to the sharks. / ate some
negro once and it made me sick for three
days We viii capture the ship and
bring your friends here
But Why not carry word for Us to
same of the pons and thus earn a large
sum of money!"
And be seized and shut up in prison,
or hung Take the lean, long devil away
and fatten him up If he won't eat, you
must cram the food down his throat
lie hit the nail on the head when he
called me long and lean. I stood about
six feet sas long armed and long legged,
and weighed only l4o pounds. They
might have hunted for week without
finding an onnce of fat When | return
ed to the hut | no longer had any hope.
/ felt certain that we had not only fallen
among cannibals, but that some of NJ
would surely be eaten within day or
two. | was greatly worried, too, about
the brig. The yawl was the only boat
left her by the storm, and our continued
absence would puzzle the captain. He
would have no idea of the mess we had
got into. and would not therefore be on
his guard against an attack by the ma
tives am certain they meant 10 make
one. bur Providence interfered. With
the going down oi the sun a strong breeze
set in from the land and before midnight
as learned several months later, the "a
bles which had SO long stood the strain
parted and let the brig drift to sea. She
was picked up by steamer next day
and towed into Honolulu. and the captain
reported that we on the yawl had likely
been ,zipsized and drowned while trying
to come off to the brig after dark. That
report settled our fate. and nothing more
would ever be learned of us except by ac-
cident Our first night in the village was
a Wretched one The natives were awake
all night long, singing, shouting and re-
ioicing over our capture, and, it being
midsummer, we were nearly devoured
alive by insects. ] caught few words
now and then from the guards during the
night. and I thus learned that the sea
was too heavy TO permit the attack on the
brig, and that none of US would be eaten
until the people of Little Cannibal. which
war three or four miles distant, could
cross the channel. This, they figured,
I could be done in another twenty-four
hours. but they were wrong. The wind
held at half gale for the next two days,
I and it was on the fourth day of our cap
tnre that the visitors appeared. A chief
and about twenty men came, and were
( warmly welcomed ] had not seen any
/ of the sailors except the one who lodged
with me up to this time, but knew the
/ huts in which they were confined and by
/ looking through the creyices of my prison
walls got an idea who would be the
first victim The fattest man in our crew
+ had come ashore with me He was a sec
ond class seaman named Philbrick. and
was built like porpoise. He had a
smooth face, red checks, and was in the
I bloom of health If the natives were af-
/ ter something fat and tender in the way
of human flesh they would certainly take
Philbrick, and ! soon saw they meant 10.
! The choicest food they could provide was
/ being carried to him, and il was evident
they were stuiling him for the feast He,
poor fellow, evidently had no suspicion
OF, with sailors proverbial recklesSness,
was bound to live high while the oppor-
tunity held out
The visitors arrived about 9 o'clock in
/ the morning, and half an hour later saw
Philbrick led out do not think the
men in any of the other huts could nave
seen him, think they had given him
plenty Of strong drink for he acted tipsy,
and as he came out of the hut he was
singing happy song. The people at
once gathered around him and led him
off to the woods in the rear Of the village
our guards went with the crowd. their
place. being taken by five or six BOYS Of
from Is TO Is years of age These BOYS
We're well armed, attended strictly To the
business on hand. and any attempt to
force our way out would have resulted in
our death.
I II was 3 o'clock in the afternoon when
the men returned. and was soon aware
Of the fact that Philbrick had been killed
and devoured. Indeed the people con
graduated each other ON his excellent
condition, and the strangers departed for
home with the promise to come back on
the third day. II now seemed that the
programme was to kin and eat one of Us